New S Owner with questions!
Discussion
Hi everyone!
Im the proud new owner of a red F reg S1 bought in Belfast from Nigel99. Was kind of worried driving it back the 400 miles via Dublin/Holyhead/Snowdonia all the way to Leatherhead, Surrey but made it ok in the end.
I have a couple of questions though....
Its running rather hot despite having had a recent 82 degree thermostat and even with the fan on constantly stays between the white line and the red.
This in turn makes the oil pressure drop as the heat thins the oil.... sometimes as low as 25psi but never higher than 40psi at revs.... are these both normal for a 2.8 engine?
Also the alternator seems to struggle to cope with a combination of the heater fan on (trying to disipate engine heat!), the rad fan, and radio. In fact double speed on the heater fan makes the gauge drop right down to the red. The ignition light takes a while and a blip of throttle to go out initially but I understand that IS normal. Do you think it needs a beefier alternator?
Other little jobs include general service, boot release cable jammed, passenger door dropped rubbing sill, n/s bonnet release cable broken, o/s rocker cover leaking via small hole, seats covered in nasty replacement leather. Good news is the chassis is in great condition!
All advice very gratefully received!
Cheers
Jim
Im the proud new owner of a red F reg S1 bought in Belfast from Nigel99. Was kind of worried driving it back the 400 miles via Dublin/Holyhead/Snowdonia all the way to Leatherhead, Surrey but made it ok in the end.
I have a couple of questions though....
Its running rather hot despite having had a recent 82 degree thermostat and even with the fan on constantly stays between the white line and the red.
This in turn makes the oil pressure drop as the heat thins the oil.... sometimes as low as 25psi but never higher than 40psi at revs.... are these both normal for a 2.8 engine?
Also the alternator seems to struggle to cope with a combination of the heater fan on (trying to disipate engine heat!), the rad fan, and radio. In fact double speed on the heater fan makes the gauge drop right down to the red. The ignition light takes a while and a blip of throttle to go out initially but I understand that IS normal. Do you think it needs a beefier alternator?
Other little jobs include general service, boot release cable jammed, passenger door dropped rubbing sill, n/s bonnet release cable broken, o/s rocker cover leaking via small hole, seats covered in nasty replacement leather. Good news is the chassis is in great condition!
All advice very gratefully received!
Cheers
Jim
Hi Jim, welcome to TVR ownership, the heating problem could be down to either
airlock in the cooling system or just bad flow through the rad due to either
cooling fins blocked by flies/leaves etc or more likely will need a good flush
throgh and if you are unlucky a recore, sorry. If you need advice on how to bleed system post again. Cheers
airlock in the cooling system or just bad flow through the rad due to either
cooling fins blocked by flies/leaves etc or more likely will need a good flush
throgh and if you are unlucky a recore, sorry. If you need advice on how to bleed system post again. Cheers
Hi Jim - the cooling system is a bit of a weak point in all S's but I think the fact that you drove it 400 miles may say something!
Make sure you haven't got any leaks or airlocks - and it may be worth having a few hoses off and flushing the system if you can with a hosepipe.
I had a Granada 2.3 V6 in a previous life and I struggled to get the heater to work - I connected a hosepipe to the heater radiator OUTLET (so the water is going the wrong way), disconnected the inlet hose and you just would not believe what came out - so I did the engine as aswell as I could and again brown sludge was the order of the day.
I think the 2.8 tends to run lower oil pressure than the 2.9, but 25psi is still a good pressure especially if thats a minimum.
I'd ignore the voltmeter - mine is useless - though others may not agree - as long as you're not suffering flat battery problems I wouldn't worry.
On my V8S the main power feed to the car is a weedy little wire off the positive terminal of the starter (as the battery is in the boot) and I reckon this may be a major couse of voltage drop on my car when I start winding up the load on the electrics.
With regards to the rocker cover gaskets - the V8 is a sod for them leaking - and the advice is to glue them into the rocker cover then to glue them on the car using something like contact adhesive - sounds like good advice to me though will make it a bit interesting when you want to take them off again, and you'll need a new set of gaskets.
What colour are your seats?
I may be changing mine shortly - I don't know if the seats I want to use will fit yet - but if they do I'll have a pair of doeskin (thats the colour) seats in reasonable nick going - I'll probably stick them on ebay.
Welcome by the way!!
Chris
Make sure you haven't got any leaks or airlocks - and it may be worth having a few hoses off and flushing the system if you can with a hosepipe.
I had a Granada 2.3 V6 in a previous life and I struggled to get the heater to work - I connected a hosepipe to the heater radiator OUTLET (so the water is going the wrong way), disconnected the inlet hose and you just would not believe what came out - so I did the engine as aswell as I could and again brown sludge was the order of the day.
I think the 2.8 tends to run lower oil pressure than the 2.9, but 25psi is still a good pressure especially if thats a minimum.
I'd ignore the voltmeter - mine is useless - though others may not agree - as long as you're not suffering flat battery problems I wouldn't worry.
On my V8S the main power feed to the car is a weedy little wire off the positive terminal of the starter (as the battery is in the boot) and I reckon this may be a major couse of voltage drop on my car when I start winding up the load on the electrics.
With regards to the rocker cover gaskets - the V8 is a sod for them leaking - and the advice is to glue them into the rocker cover then to glue them on the car using something like contact adhesive - sounds like good advice to me though will make it a bit interesting when you want to take them off again, and you'll need a new set of gaskets.
What colour are your seats?
I may be changing mine shortly - I don't know if the seats I want to use will fit yet - but if they do I'll have a pair of doeskin (thats the colour) seats in reasonable nick going - I'll probably stick them on ebay.
Welcome by the way!!
Chris
Hi Jim,
The alternator is normal, Mine has always done that, I've never had a problem with the electrical side, maybe battery not holding enough power?
The boot release cable on mine I changed, used a ford escort bonnet cable and moved the handle behind the drivers seat.
need to know anything else just ask
james
The alternator is normal, Mine has always done that, I've never had a problem with the electrical side, maybe battery not holding enough power?
The boot release cable on mine I changed, used a ford escort bonnet cable and moved the handle behind the drivers seat.
need to know anything else just ask
james
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